JAPAN: Prime Minister Reelection & more – 19th Feb 2026

Konnichiwa from BA! This is the Rorshok Japan Update from the 19th of February twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Japan.

After the Liberal Democrat Party’s landslide win in the Lower House election on the 8th of February, the parliament voted on Wednesday the 18th to elect the next prime minister. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, it chose Sanae Takaichi. She said she will keep her current cabinet lineup and will likely focus on passing the fiscal twenty twenty-six budget before the new fiscal year begins in April.

The Liberal Democratic Party now holds over two-thirds of the lower house but remains a minority in the House of Councillors, meaning Takaichi will still need to secure cooperation from opposition parties for the bills she wants to pass.

Read more about this with the link in the show notes!

With the reelection comes the think pieces, and Shafraz Rasheed, a Maldivian diplomat serving in Japan, recently wrote on its implications across the Indo-Pacific region. He said that the reelection strengthens political stability, ensuring that the current policy will keep going as-is rather than face any major change.

Japan’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region are happy about this stability, while China seems to be carefully watching how Japan balances security and diplomacy. Economically, the outcome supports continued trade, which is another highlight for those working with Japan.

Check out the full article in English with the link in the show notes!

Still on the international front, US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the 17th that Japan will fund three projects in oil, gas, and synthetic diamonds, together worth about thirty-six billion dollars. This is the first part of a 550 billion dollar investment package made in twenty twenty-five in exchange for reduced US tariffs on Japanese goods.

Online, some in Japan were in favor of the funding, saying that the reduced tariffs were more than worth it, and that Japan’s partnership in these projects would benefit both countries in the long run. However, others raised questions about whether the Japanese taxpayer would just have yet another burden placed on their shoulders to pay for these projects.

In other news, police searched the home of Takubo Maki, the former Ito City Mayor in Shizuoka, central Japan, over allegations she lied about her academic background during an election campaign. She said she had graduated from Toyo University, but had actually been expelled. Takubo also refused to submit a purported diploma to a city assembly investigative committee.

Criminal complaints accuse her of violating public office, election and local autonomy laws, but some online defended her, saying that the complaints had been exaggerated because Maki had spoken out against a Big Solar project that wanted to destroy a nearby forest.

After voluntary questioning, she declined to provide documents that the police requested, asserting her right to refuse and saying that even if she wasn’t entirely honest, she hadn’t committed a crime.

You know what should be a crime? The price of chocolate—at least, that was the opinion of many women this past Valentine’s Day. For a long time, it’s been tradition in Japan for women to give male coworkers obligatory chocolates, also known as giri-choco: chocolates gifted out of politeness rather than for romantic reasons.

Many women tweeted or posted on other social media about hating the financial and social pressure, with one survey showing that eighty-five percent of working women are against being expected to give giri-choco. Some experts even warned that the custom could lead to power or sexual harassment. Some companies have banned giri-choco, and instead distribute chocolates equally to all employees to reduce pressure.

In health news, on Thursday the 19th, a health ministry expert panel approved two iPS cell-based treatments for heart disease and Parkinson’s disease. iPS cells are a type of stem cell developed in two thousand six that can make copies of existing cells in a person’s body, which has a lot of potential for treating many diseases. This approval marks Japan as the first country to authorize commercial use of iPS cell-based treatments.

Cuorips, a firm from the University of Osaka, developed the heart disease treatment, and Sumitomo Pharma developed the Parkinson’s treatment. Companies all over the world have been interested in iPS cells since they were first developed, so actual treatments becoming available is sure to cause a stir.

Meanwhile, the Mainichi Newspaper reported on Thursday the 19th that the Kanagawa Prefectural Police in eastern Japan are investigating a Tokyo-based trading company employee in his forties. His alleged crime? Forging an ID card to enter the US naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the fall of twenty twenty-five.

Police suspect he got into restricted areas of the base and possibly drove a US military vehicle on and off the base. Police are thinking of charging him under the special criminal law tied to the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement. He’s currently on a Middle East business trip, but police will question him once he’s back.

In some business news, Japan’s mobile payment app PayPay is preparing to list on the US Nasdaq as it expands overseas. The company submitted documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission and aims to debut as early as March.

Since launching in twenty eighteen, PayPay has grown to more than seventy-two million users. It has also partnered with Visa to begin offering cashless payment services in the US, marking a major step in its international growth.

Labor unions at major Japanese automakers are also looking for some growth—specifically, wage growth. In Japan, it’s common for labor unions to talk to companies about wages in spring as the fiscal year draws to a close, and the carmaker labor unions began their salary talks on Wednesday the 18th. They’re looking for big wage increases amid ongoing inflation, though some demands are lower than last year’s.

Honda’s union asked for a 12,000 yen monthly base pay increase, which is seventy-seven dollars (seven dollars less than in twenty twenty-four). Nissan’s union asked for a 10,000 yen, a sixty-five-dollar total raise—fifty-two dollars below last year—mainly because Nissan had a rough year. Toyota’s union also asked for a base pay hike but did not give an exact amount.

Transport businesses in Japan are also growing in preparation for Tokyo’s Narita Airport’s major twenty twenty-nine expansion. This expansion will raise annual flight slots from just over 300,000 to 500,000 with a new runway, extended operating hours and upgraded facilities. Japan Airlines plans to strengthen short-haul Asian routes and restructure Jetstar Japan.

All Nippon Airlines aims to increase international passenger and cargo operations by thirty percent by twenty thirty. Rail operators, including Keisei Electric Railway, plan track upgrades to handle increased traffic.

Speaking of travel, Japan’s inbound tourism fell almost five percent in January twenty twenty-six compared to the same month last year. This marked the first decline in four years, largely due to a sixty percent drop in travelers from China. The downturn follows heightened political tensions after Prime Minister Takaichi’s remarks related to Taiwan, prompting China to urge citizens to avoid travel to Japan.

While visitors from South Korea and Taiwan increased, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia saw declines. Chinese airlines are offering free cancellations, so it’s likely that this downward trend will continue

Closing this edition with some sports news, Yuto Totsuka won his first Olympic gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe at the Milano Cortina Winter Games. The last two times the twenty-four-year-old attended the Winter Olympics, he lost miserably, so this was a huge win.

That wasn’t the only exciting news from the Winter Olympics. Japan won bronze in the women’s team pursuit speed skating event, with Miho Takagi, Ayano Sato, and Hana Noake defeating the US after losing to the Netherlands in the semifinals. It was Takagi’s third medal of the twenty twenty-six Games and her tenth overall, making her Japan’s most decorated Winter Olympian.

The bronze also secured Japan’s nineteenth medal of the Games, setting a new national record for its most successful Winter Olympics.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

For those who may want to find out if we get any of these updates going again, go to https://rorshok.com/updates/. It's also in the show notes. There, you can give us your email address, and we will let you know if anything changes. And of course, you can always just send us an email to info@rorshok.com and let us know to keep you informed. But most of all, thanks for the outpouring of support.

Mata Ne!